Why does a Midi playback have more volume?

I have noticed this several times. Today I was testing a new set of speakers and I again noticed that when I playback someone else's Midi recording it is noticeably louder than my own playing. In this case, I was playing the 'Paramount on Parade' recording for the Paramount 450. I had to turn down the volume slider from 80 (where I normally have it) to about 45 to have the same volume as normal. Now as I understand it, a Midi playback is only playing notes and changing stops, etc.. So if it is using all the voicing and settings of my organ, why would it be louder? I'm wondering if there is something I could change that would coax a little more volume out of the organ when I'm playing it.

Any thoughts?

And Martin, if I've picked the wrong category please feel free to move this post.

[mdyde]

Hello David,

[Topic moved here.]

Hauptwerk's MIDI recorder records positions/movements of the master volume slider, so if the originator of the file had it set higher than you normally do then the recording would sound correspondingly louder.

The MIDI recorder also records positions/movements of swell box pedals of course, so if, for example, your MIDI expression pedals aren't normally (or ever, e.g. due to your MIDI pedal not covering the full configured value range) as open as those of the originator then recordings could sound louder and brighter.

Also, on a theatre organ, perhaps the originator is using second touch to play a larger registration than you normally would (e.g. if your MIDI keyboards don't have second touch).

The only other thing that could conceivably be relevant is that MIDI recordings will potentially contain note velocities, which might be different to the velocity values that your MIDI keyboards would transmit. However, probably no organ sample sets would use velocity to affect amplitude (conceivably aside from percussion stops on theatre organs).

Thanks for the very plausible explanations. If the person who made the recording moved his/her volume slider higher, would mine change also and be reflected on the mini control I have saved on my desktop?

Also, if I auto-detected my expression pedals, would the range be from the highest possible to the lowest? Or is that something that can be manually adjusted?

Incidentally, I am still not getting notifications of replies, even after I tried all your suggestions. I will just have to make a point of checking periodically after I post something.

[mdyde]

Thanks, David.

If the person who made the recording moved his/her volume slider higher, would mine change also and be reflected on the mini control I have saved on my desktop?

Yes.

Also, if I auto-detected my expression pedals, would the range be from the highest possible to the lowest?

When auto-detecting, provided that you move your MIDI expression pedal back and forth across its full range a few times (as prompted), Hauptwerk will be able to map the range of your pedal to the virtual pedal's full range. However, if you didn't quite move it across the MIDI pedal's full range during auto-detection, or if the MIDI pedal's range has subsequently become smaller for any reason (e.g. mechanical potentiometer wear) then you could potentially not be using the full virtual range.

If in doubt, try auto-detecting the expression pedals again (being careful to move them from fully open to fully closed a few times).

Or is that something that can be manually adjusted?

You can adjust it manually by right-clicking on the virtual pedal and selecting "Adjust ... manually ...", but you wouldn't normally need to, since auto-detection should map the ranges automatically (as above).

Incidentally, I am still not getting notifications of replies, even after I tried all your suggestions. I will just have to make a point of checking periodically after I post something.

Sorry to hear that. I can't think of anything else to suggest beyond what we covered previously ( viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21082 ), I'm afraid.

No need to respond, Martin, but I did confirm that the recording (Console Up, not Paramount on Parade) did increase the volume slider. Expression pedal settings are unchanged.

I think that answers my question.

[mdyde]

Thanks, David. Excellent. You're very welcome.